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Capitalism without Romance
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any explanation of the financial crisis has to tell us why so many mortgage-backed bonds wound up in the hands of the world’s commercial banks.
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For American banks, the answer seems to be an obscure regulation called the Recourse Rule. The Rule was enacted by the Fed, the FDIC, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision in 2001. It was an amendment to the international Basel Accords governing banks’ capital reserves—and all over the world, these regulations appear to have caused the crisis.
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PROMISES, PROMISES: A closed meeting on openness
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It's hardly the image of transparency the Obama administration wants to project: A workshop on government openness is closed to the public.
The event Monday for federal employees is a fitting symbol of President Barack Obama's uneven record so far on the Freedom of Information Act, a big part of keeping his campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever.
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Add Sticky NoteObama scored points on his pledge by requiring the release of detailed information about $787 billion in economic stimulus spending. It's now available on a Web site, http://www.recovery.gov.
- Privately run sites have more useful information than recovery.gov. Try recovery.org. - about 15 hours ago
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$10 an hour with 2 kids? IRS pounces
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"They thought she must have unreported income. That she was hiding something. Basically they were auditing her for not making enough money."
Wayne Co. profits from police property seizures
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Vaughn, who has no criminal record, was required to pay for the return of her car, which was seized by police after they mistook Vaughn's co-worker for a prostitute. Even though prosecutors later dropped the case, Vaughn still had to pay.
Her story is not unusual. In Wayne County, law enforcement officials regularly seize vehicles without levying charges -- even in cases in which they later concede no law was broken. The agency provides perhaps the most prolific and egregious example of what critics contend is the wrongful use of laws allowing the seizure of private property.
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Officers from the Wayne County Sheriff's Morality Unit accused Odom of solicitation after they saw her make eye contact with passing motorists while waiting for Vaughn to pick her up from the bank. On the strength of that observation, officers ticketed Odom and seized Vaughn's 2002 Chrysler Sebring.
The Jobs Picture Crashes Into Debt Realities
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The chart below illustrates this point. Based on Congressional Budget Office data, it represents the interest the government paid on the federal debt as a percentage of GDP between 1962 and today and the projected debt service payments up until 2082. The projections are illustrated under the current CBO baseline and under the CBO alternative, more realistic, scenario. For comparison, the graph also shows CBO’s projections for the cost of Medicare and Social Security as a percentage of GDP. Notice that under either of CBO’s scenarios, the net interest payments, or the costs of the debt, rival the cost of two of our nation’s most expensive social programs.
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Add Sticky NoteStarting in 2012, the cost of the debt as a percentage of GDP will explode from a mere 1.8 percent of GDP to more than 30 percent of GDP in 2082.
- Something is going to give before this happens. - on 2009-12-04
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With F.H.A. Help, Easy Loans in Expensive Areas
The federal government is continuing to guarantee risky loans, now in larger amounts than ever. I guess this is all part of the plan to reinflate the housing bubble.
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In its efforts to prop up a shattered housing market, the government is greatly extending its traditional support of real estate, including guaranteeing the mortgages of middle-class and even upper-class buyers against default.
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Some F.H.A. borrowers here say they have the cash for a full down payment but would rather invest it in the stock market or use it for remodeling. Others, like Mr. Rowland and his friends, simply do not have the money required by private lenders
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Stimulus is boon for D.C. area contractors: Federal departments are paying firms to help spend the money
Federal departments are paying firms to help spend the money
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Reports from stimulus recipients show that a sizable sum has gone to federal contractors in the Washington area who are helping implement the initiative -- in effect, they are being paid a hefty slice of the money to help spend the rest of it.
How to Fix Health Care—Lasik surgery for the medical debate
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The alternative is to base reforms on what works in the other
five-sixths of the U.S. economy, where choice and competition
increase quality and drive down prices over time. -
"How to Fix Health Care" proposes three simple reforms that will
put us on a path to a health-care system that's better, more
affordable, and more accessible. And get this—these market-based
reforms can be implemented without creating new government
programs or raising taxes.
CBO: Senate's Health Care Reform Bill Would Cause Individual-Market Insurance Premiums to Rise
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According to a report released by the Congressional Budget
Office this morning, the average price of insurance
premiums bought on the individual market—that is, premiums not
purchased through employers—would go up by 10 to 13 percent in
2016 if Congress passed health care reform legislation now in the
Senate. This tracks with
state-level reform efforts, which have almost always
coincided with spikes in individual insurance premiums.
Nevertheless, advocates of reform will—and indeed, already are—arguing that the report shows that the bill
will make health care both better and more affordable. How's
that? -
Basically, the argument is that, sure, insurance on the
individual market will be more expensive, but taxpayers will pick
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These Boots Are Made for Talking: The fuzzy math and goofy logic of government-goosed employment
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But the most fundamental flaw in the president’s stimulus hype is
the notion that more jobs are always better (which also underlies
his claim
that global warming will be a boon to the economy as long as we
spend lots of money to mitigate it). According to this standard,
if the government really did find a supplier who spends 520
man-hours to deliver one pair of work boots, it should buy as
many as possible.
How Little We Know
Russell Roberts argues against giving more power to regulators for the purpose of reforming capitalism. Regulators were part of the problem, and there is no reason to believe they will be wiser in the future.
Why did regulators bother with Utz-Snyder's deal? Companies called off merger that could have benefited consumers
As is all too common, the author maintains his faith in an enthusiasm for antitrust laws.
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This month Snyder's of Hanover and Utz Quality Foods, both in Hanover, just over the state line from Carroll County, halted a planned merger after regulators intervened.
In deciding to extend its review of the deal, the Federal Trade Commission sought documents that would have cost the companies millions of dollars and months of uncertainty.
"They were asking for a lot of data - obviously a very expensive process" says Utz President Tom Dempsey. "We looked at it and said, 'We've got to make a business decision here.' We just decided this isn't something we're prepared to go forward on."
Too bad. The merger, which the companies said would have been layoff-free, could have given them fighting weight to compete against monsters Frito-Lay and Kraft. It would have been good for Hanover, where they employ a couple of thousand people.
Not in anybody's imagination (except maybe an antitrust regulator's) could it have hurt consumers.
Between them Frito-Lay and Kraft control well over half of the U.S. snack market. Frito-Lay makes the eponymous chips and other junk food. Kraft makes Ritz and Triscuit crackers and Mister Salty pretzels.
Snyder's market share, by contrast, is about 2 percent. Utz's is even less. Combined, they would control a smaller portion of the snack business than Microsoft's share of Web-search activity.
Obama's phony federalism
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Not yet a year into his administration, Obama's record on 10th Amendment issues is already clear: He'll let the states have their way when their policies please blue team sensibilities and he'll call in the feds when they don't. Thus, he'll grant California a waiver to allow it to raise auto emissions standards, but he'll bring the hammer down when the state tries to cut payments to unionized health care workers.
Canadian sanctimony on healthcare unwarranted
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Alarmist terminology aside, in a single-payer, public system, the state will decide how to mete out finite resources. Of course, with private healthcare there are also “death panels.” But at least you can shop around for an insurer who will be generously inclined towards your various ailments.
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Due to luck of the draw and the hospital to which her cardiologist was linked -- as opposed to wealth or influential friends -- my mother had her surgery performed by one of the best heart doctors in the country.
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Retired military officers cash in as well-paid consultants
. . . while they also work for defense contractors.
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McKissock is one of at least 158 retired admirals and generals the Pentagon has hired to offer advice under an unusual arrangement. Most of the retired officers, one to four stars in rank, have been paid hundreds of dollars an hour by the military even as they worked for companies seeking Defense Department contracts, a USA TODAY investigation found.
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As "senior mentors," as the military calls them, the retired officers help run war games and offer advice to former colleagues.
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Big Law, We Have a Problem
I see this as a symptom of the growth of government, like the booming D.C. housing market.
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On September 26th, more students took the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) than have ever taken a single administration of the LSAT in the history of the exam. Chalk it up to the recession, the economy, or the sudden increase in all things vampire. Whatever the reason, over 60,000 students lined up to take the first step to becoming a lawyer on September 26th. This turnout continues a sudden increase in LSAT administrations that began roughly in 2007.
Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist
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Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.
There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.
And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified. -
The recovery.gov Web site was established as part of the stimulus bill "to foster greater accountability and transparency" in the use of the money spent through the stimulus program.
U.S. is doing no good in Afghanistan
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In 2001, the U.S. helped return to power the worst misogynist criminals, such as the Northern Alliance warlords and druglords. These men ought to be considered a photocopy of the Taliban. The only difference is that the Northern Alliance warlords wear suits and ties and cover their faces with the mask of democracy while they occupy government positions. But they are responsible for much of the disaster today in Afghanistan, thanks to the U.S. support they enjoy.
What Health Reform Will Do to My Insurance
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I'm a registered Democrat living in New York City, and I buy my own health insurance. But now, having seen the health-care reform bill that passed the House, I'm preparing for life without health insurance.
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I will gain one thing, though—an annual fine for losing my insurance. The exact amount of that fine isn't clear yet, but so far it looks like I'll be paying about the same amount—$2,000 a year—for having no insurance as I do now for having it.
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